Buick LeSabre 1965 Service Manual page 445

7 - 1 8 SERVICE PROCEDURES
CHASSIS SUSPENSION
UPPER BALL JOINT
LOWER BALL JOINT
Figure 7-11— Upper and Lower Ball Joints
and frame bracket. Remove the
control arm assembly.
7. Clamp the control arm assem-
bly in a vise and remove the
bushings, seals, and shaft. After
cleaning away the old grease, ex-
amine the shaft and bushings for
excessive wear or damage. Re-
place any excessively worn parts.
Installation
1. Assemble new grease seals on
the shaft. Apply a coating of good
quality and long-effectiveness
chassis lubricant to the shaft
threads, and position the shaft in
the new control arm-ball joint
assembly.
2. Start bushing into upper con-
trol arm. Thread shaft into bush-
ing to aid in alignment. Torque
bushing to 70 ft. lbs. maximum.
3. Start second bushing into the
upper control arm with shaft
threaded into the opposite bush-
ing. See Figure 7-14.
4. After b u s h i n g has been
threaded part way into arm, ro-
tate shaft to engage threads of
second bushing as an aid in pi-
loting the bushing squarely into
position.
5. Tighten bushing into arm until
hex section of bushing seats firm-
ly into arm. Torque to a minimum
of 70 ft. lbs. Shaft should be free
enough to turn by hand. Install
grease fittings and lubricate
bushings.
6. Rotate shaft to make distance
between shaft bolt holes and arm
equal both sides as nearly as
possible. See Fieoire 7-15.
7. Assemble upper control arm
and shaft assembly to bracket,
making c e r t a i n the number,
thickness and location of adjust-
ing shims between shaft and
bracket are correct. Torque shaft
to bracket nuts to 100 ft. lbs. The
nuts may be torqued from within
the engine compartment through
the use of a standard 11/16"-1/2"
drive socket and J-1313 Torque
Wrench or its equivalent.
8. Assemble tapered stud to
knuckle with cotter pin holes fore
and aft. Install castellated nut.
Torque to 35 ft. lbs. and install
cotter pin.
9. Install wheel. Check and ad-
just front end alignment if
necessary.
When working in the area of the
front upper control arm, make
certain that the rubber water de-
flectors are securely attached in
their original positions when the
work is completed. If reasonable
care is exercised in removing the
fasteners for these rubber deflec-
tors, they may be satisfactorily
reused.
10. Lubricate the ball joint and
upper control arm shaft bushings
with a long-effectiveness grease
equivalent to Buick Specification
No. 742.
b. Lower Control Arm Ball
Joint Assembly—Removal
and Installation
The lower ball joint assembly is
pressed into the lower control
arm and is serviced separately.
The lower ball joint is not spring
equipped and depends upon car
weight to load the ball. See Fig-
ure 7-11.
Removal
1. Raise front of car and place
jack stands under frame side
rails. Remove wheel with hub
and drum assembly.
2. Remove the brake backing
plate. If the backing plate is wired
carefully out of the way as shown
in Figure 7-16, there will be no
need to disconnect the brake hose.
3. For safety's sake place a floor
jack under the lower control arm
as far outboard on the arm as
possible to gain maximum lever-
age advantage. Do not place the
jack against the arm but about
1/2" below. Now remove cotter
pin and loosen (do not remove) nut
on lower ball joint tapered stud.
Nut should be loosened not more
than 1/8".